China to impose antimony export limits
From September 15, China will impose export limits on antimony in a bid to restrict shipments of critical minerals in which it is the dominant supplier.
According to the US Geological Survey, China was the leading global antimony producer in 2023 and accounted for 48% of production.
While used to improve the hardness and strength of other metals, antimony has become increasingly popular for its use in military equipment, such as infrared missiles, nuclear weapons, night vision goggles and a hardening agent for bullets and tanks.
As stated by China’s Ministry of Commerce, the restrictions are being imposed “in order to safeguard the national security and interests, and fulfil international obligations such as non-proliferation”.
The limits apply to six kinds of antimony-related products, including antimony ore, antimony metals and antimony oxide. It also bans the export of gold-antimony smelting and separation technology without permission.
Turning to antimony production
The race is on for the world to replace restricted antimony supply, with Australian-based Nova Minerals (ASX: NVA) making a promising discovery high-grade antimony at its Estelle gold project in Alaska.
While known for its gold mineralisation, Nova is investigating a potential small-scale starter mine for antimony and other critical minerals at the Stibium prospect to create a concentrate for US domestic supply and potential early cashflow.
Surface sampling at Stibium unearthed high-grade antimony coincident with gold, with up to 60.5% antimony and 12.7g/t gold encountered.
Additionally, up to 16.8% antimony was returned at the Trumpet prospect, up to 10% antimony was discovered at the Train prospect and up to 0.9% antimony was found at the Shoeshine prospect.
Nova chief executive Christopher Gerteisen has met with various US federal and state government departments and bodies to discuss the lack of a domestic antimony supply chain in the country and present Nova as a potential partner to supply this metal.
The company is actively pursuing grant opportunities to progress development of its antimony and critical mineral resources at Estelle.